A Change of Pace (Off Topic)

Life as a professional chef can be interesting to say the least.  You often work in a high stress, unrewarding environment; you are under constant pressure to do better and do faster.  I am lucky enough to have a job where the people I work for and work with are understanding.  Most of us often wish we could just return to the simple roots of cooking, make beautiful and tasty food, just for the sake of making it.  Lots of us would love to spend hours a day just learning more about food and the culture from which it was born.  Strangely, I have been granted the opportunity to do just that.

Come January I will be spending a full month in Toledo, Spain, just outside of Madrid, working and learning at a fantastic restaurant under the guidance of Chef Adolfo Munoz.  I hope to discover more about the roots of Spanish cuisine, broaden my horizons of modern culinary art and find a bit of temporary salvation.  Feel free to follow my journey on the blog or alternatively on Facebook, which will link you here; I hope to be able to post pictures and information about what I am up to every couple of days, as well as review a few restaurants, wines and beers.

As happy as I am to get going, I look forward to coming back home as much.  Once I return in February, I have a little more excitement on the docket.  Friend, fellow chef and devout beer-a-holic Tyler Scott and I are going to take on the monumental task of making homebrew.  Good homebrew, from scratch, no extracts and no cheating. Take a look at the blog for pictures and updates as to how we are making out, and drop me a line if you want to come by and a have a taste or maybe even lend a hand!